Friday January 21, 2011 5:15 pm

Larry Page to replace Eric Schmidt as Google CEO

Google announced as part of its earnings call that Eric Schmidt, one of the company founders, will be stepping down as CEO and will move into the role of Executive Chairman of the Board, focusing on external deals, partnerships and broad business relationships. Google co-founder Larry Page will take the role of CEO and handle day to day activities. Google says this will help clarify roles and create clearer responsabilities at the top of the corporate ladder. This came as somewhat of a surprise, since typically CEO changes happen when a company does poorly, or an executive retires, but this is sure to puzzle analysts for some time.